Hello, Grabill, and Hello Training!

We still have several more things to tell you about our transition into our new chapter of life, but I thought I'd start by telling you about our week of training!

Because we don't have an educational or work background in social work, Rob thought it might be helpful for us to attend a week of training along with some couples who are new house parents. The work we will be doing is comparable to what they do, but there are some pretty big differences, too. Still, he thought it might help us better understand the young adults we'll be working with and the background of life at Gateway Woods if we went through that week of training!

Our training stay wasn't our official move - it was just a temporary stay. But we loaded up the car (even more than we did for our wedding...and it was full then) and headed to Grabill for our week of training.

 I pretty much couldn't feel my legs by the time we arrived, but they still worked once we tumbled out of the car!

The first night we were there, Rob ordered pizza, and we spent some time with him and his family, figuring out our schedule for the next week.

Posing with our new home...

And bright and early on Monday morning, we headed to our first training session!

Our learning that week was classroom-style. Different staff members presented sessions on topics that ranged from learning how to use some of the computer systems to understanding huge, heavy topics that impact daily life.

Even though we knew some of the sessions wouldn't directly apply to us in the way we go about our work, we found it really helpful to learn the information!

They brought in lunch for the trainees every day and most of the days we ended up with enough left over for dinner! That was really helpful, since our time for cooking was a bit on the limited side.

The training lasted from about 9-4 every day, and we stayed well supplied with coffee throughout each day.

When we weren't in training, we did some exploring around Grabill, trying to learn the layout of the town. (It's a small town, so we're learning quickly!)

We also got to enjoy a little down time in the temporary apartment where we stayed. It was really comfortable!

Oh! And I almost forgot...in between training sessions, we did take some nice walks around campus!

Our minds were so full by the end of that week of training, but our hearts were full, too. We knew (and still know) we have so much yet to learn, but we are excited for the chance to do this work God has called us to so unmistakably.

The training will go on and on - and in truth, are any of us ever really done training in this life? WE always have something to learn!

But what we do know is that we are grateful for the team of people we'll be working with and their commitment to take time away from their everyday responsibilities to teach those of us who are new!